At least 50 people were killed in India's north-eastern state of Sikkim in Sunday's quake, Home Secretary R.K. Singh told a press briefing in New Delhi, while building collapses and landslides claimed another 18 lives in adjoining Indian states.

Police said eight people were killed in Nepal, and China's official Xinhua news agency reported seven dead in southern Tibet.

Tremors were felt more than 1,000 kilometres away in New Delhi to the west, and in Bangladesh to the east.

Rescue teams heading to the mountainous area faced a difficult task with cracked roads blocked by falling rocks and mud.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011